Not Your Typical Villianess

"Zhu Faye was about speaking but the sturdy door opening made him pause "Fengyin-mei Mei congratulations, Duke Wu is a good match," he said looking past Su Liya.

"Yes, I guess he is" Zhu Fengyin replied stiffly. She looked at Su Liya and said " we should get going, a designer from Roushi house is coming over to take my measurement".

Su Liya nodded "Alright". She followed Zhu Fengyin back to her rooms. 

Several maids were standing around the room when they walked, Zhu Fengyin immediately dismissed them all. The maid were well trained, they all left within seconds. Su Liya put her ears close to the door to make sure no one stood by the door.

She had watched enough drama and read enough books to know that there were often spies put on every courtyard. Su Liya wasn't still convinced that they were indeed alone, so she walked out and looked down the hall. There wasn't a soul in sight as she walked down the hall, she returned into the room.

"What is going on Fengyin, what is troubling you? It can't be the imperial decree, we already suspected that so it cannot be anything new" She sat close to Zhu Fengyin, gently rubbing her back. 

Zhu Fengyin pulled her hair back and let out a dry breath "t is about the imperial decree. I don't like what that means, it would seem that even marriage can't pull me out of my father's clutches."

"Say Fengyin, What did minister Zhu say to you? you weren't this way when you left"

Zhu Fengyin looked at her silently, then looked to the door and let out a heavy sigh. She leaned to her right and rested her head on Su Liya's shoulders. "You were right about the decree. Once again I am trapped in a situation not to my liking by my father".

Su Liya pats her cheeks gently "Don't lose hope just yet not because Minster Zhu asks you to spy on the Lu family means you have to do that. You can pick what you reveal, after all, you will be out of their reach".

Zhu Fengyin sat up excitedly "you are a genius Liya why didn't I think of this".

"Because you are too old," Su Liya said playfully flicking Zhu Fengyin's forehead.

"Ha, I am old and your not! Last I checked you are older than me by a year" Zhu Fengyin retorted smiling.

"No, I am not. That's the other Su Liya, I am only 20 years old" Su Liya said which made Zhu Fengyin laugh harder.

"That is even much older than me since based on my original age when I died, I am only 18 years old. I should call you grandma".

"Age doesn't matter" Su Liya replied quickly pouting.

******

The next day Duke Wu came to Minster Zhu's residence with a long line of betrothal gifts. The wedding date was set for ten days later, the fact that Liu Yingjie brought the gifts himself was surprising.

Zhu Fengyin sat behind a screen all through the duke's visit. The fact that Minister Zhu and Duke Wu were at odds was hard to deduce since both men were polite to each other. They acted like a bunch of intimate father and son in law. 

Zhu Fengyin didn't stay long before returning to her rooms, Su Liya was silent all through their walk back. As soon as they were alone Su Liya finally broke her silence.

"Wow I have got to hand it to Duke Wu, he is phenomenal. Look at all those gifts, they are all top-notch. Onsight one would think that it was the Duke that initiated the marriage and not the paranoid Emperor" Su Liya snorted and skipped to the sofa.

Zhu Fengyin quickly made a shush sign and looked around cautiously "will you Hush now, someone may hear you!"

"Who will hear me, please everyone is busy gawking at the bride price from your future husband" Su Liya spat out the word husband like it was an insult "you should be careful about that one Fengyin, the deadliest of enemies is the person that share a bed with you".

"Alright, I understand Liya let us talk about something else. All this talk about marriage is suffocating" Zhu Fengyin sat down next to her.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Su Liya asked.

"I don't know…. Maybe my third brother"

Su Liya pulled away "What about that walking catastrophe?" 

"How are you going to do about him, I noticed that he had been hovering around you. Judging from his previous actions, unlike father I don't think the distance would keep him at bay"

Su Liya sighed heavily "don't worry about me, I can take care of him. The pressing issue now is figuring out how you can survive in the Lu family".

"The Lu family won't hurt me"

"Don't be so sure Fengyin, the Lu family supports the crown prince thanks to the Empress. You are the daughter of their number one enemy, you are not going to have it easy in the Duke manor" Su Liya crossed her legs and pulled a loose strand of hair out of her eye.

"Don't worry about that yet Liya, let us make it through these last few days. We can make our strategy after the wedding" she turned to Su Liya who nodded and replied

"Okay".

******

Five streets away at Duke Wu's residence.

Lu Yaozhu was going into the duke's study as soon as he arrived. He had been away at the training camp for 4 days. Lu Yaozhu would have stayed a little bit longer but he was called home by his mother.

His elder brother Lu Yingjie and younger brother Lu Yong were both seated in the room. Lu Yaozhu squeezed their shoulders and sat on the seat opposite his elder brother.

Lu Yingjie didn't look up from the court report he was going through. "You didn't have to come back home, it is still early. The wedding is ten days from now. You should have waited till then".

"I would have, if I had any other choice. Mother called me back home" Lu Yaozhu replied in a bored tone.

Lu Yingjie placed the brush aside and looked up from the report. "Wow, don't I get any say in this family".

"No, at least not according to mother. She is… displeased with your marriage but since she can not question the emperor's decision, she has taken it upon herself to protect the family as she put it"

Lu Yong chuckles softly "is her method of protecting the family anyhow related to her calling Zhu Fenfang over".

"mm," Lu Yaozhu replied.

Lu Yingjie pinched the top of his nose gently "She has to be careful, the Emperor is watching us closely".

"I guess he has gotten tired of keeping a low profile in our lives, he now wants to act like an uncle. Pathetic, What provoked him this time" Lu Yong said.

"My last victory, he is angry that I made it out alive" Lu Yaozhu replied.